ELECTROSTATICS - I :

Coulombs Law and Superposition Principle :

We are familiar with Coulombs law which sates that the force due to a charge q
1
located at r
1
on a charge q
2
at r
2
is
proportional to the charges q
1
and q
2
,
varies inversely as the square of the distance between the charges,
acts along the line joining the charges.

F =
q
1
q
2
4
0
r
2
r
1
| r
2
r
1
|
3
=
q
1
q
2
4
0
r
r
3
(1)
where r = r
2
r
1
.
r
r
r
q
q
1
1
2
2
Some of the points to be noted are
1. The expression is translationally invariant, i.e., if we let r
i
r
i
a, it
remains invariant. This allows us to shift the origin of coordinate sysatem
to, say, the location of one of the charges.
2. The constant of proportionality 1/4
0
is in SI units, being
1
4
0
= 9 10
9
Nm
2
/C
2

0
= 8.85 10
12
C
2
/Nm
2
1
Experimentally, the force on a charge q due to a charge distribution q
i
at r
i
is given
by superposition of forces, i.e.

F =
q
4
0

i
q
i
r r
i
| r r
i
|
3
(2)
Actually, the force on q depends on poosition, velocity and acceleration of the
charges {q
i
}. This is because there is no action at a distance. The information
that a charge q i has appeared at the position r
i
reaches the position of the test
charge q with the speed of light in vacuum. Thus the force on q depends upon
where q
i
was at some time before, i.e., when the message that q
i
has arrived at
r
i
left the position r
i
. In electrostatics we will deal with the situation where the
source charges are stationary, though the test charge may be moving.
Electric Field :
Since force on a test charge q due to a charge distribution is proportional to charge
q, we can write

F = q

E (3)
where

E is known as the electric eld at r due to the charge distribution

E =
1
4
0

i
q
i
| r r
i
|
(r r
i
) (4)
which is a property of the point r and the charge distribution and has no reference
to the test charge q.
In real life situation, we generally have a distribution of charge which is almost
continuous. This is because though the charge is quantized, the unit of quanti-
zation is the electron charge which is small. The transition from the discrete to
the continuous case is done by assuming that a small charge is located within a
volume element d
3
r

at
r

. If (r

) is the charge density at r

,
we have
dQ = (r

)d
3
r

(5)
r
r
O
r r
P
E
d r
3
2
Or, equivalently, respectively in 1 and 2 dimension
dQ = (r

)dr

= (r

)d
2
r

(6)
where and are the usual notations for charge densities in 1 and 2 dimensions
respectively.
Calculation of Electric Field : Generally, the electric eld is not calculated
by direct use of Coulombs law except in some special situations.
Example 1 :
Calculate

E at a distance z above a straight line segment of length 2L which
carries a charge of linear charge density .
Solution :
Let the point P be located directly above Q so that P makes angles
1
and
2
at
the ends, as shown.
A
B
E
E cos
E sin
r
Q
z
P

1 2

R
2L
dx
x
Take an element of length dx at the point R located at a distance x from A. Let
the distance AQ = L
1
. We have
RQ = AQx = L
1
x =
z
tan
dx =
z
tan
2

sec
2
d =
z
sin
2

d
r = z/ sin
The eld at P due to the length element dX at x can be resolved into an x-
3
component and an y-component, as follows :
E
x
=
_
E cos
=
1
4
0
_
dx
r
2
cos
=

4
0
_
zd
sin
2

sin
2

z
2
cos
=

4
0
z
_
2

2

1
cos d
=

4
0
z
(sin
2
sin
1
) (7)
E
y
=
_
E sin
=

4
0
z
_
2

2

1
sin d
=

4
0
z
(cos
2
+ cos
1
) (8)
The above give the well known result for an innitely long charged wire for which,

1
=
2
= 0, so that the x-component vanishes and we are left only with a
component perpendicular to the wire,

E = E
y
=

2
0
z
(9)
Example 2 :
Find the eld at a distance z above the centre of a square loop of side a carrying
charge of a linear charge density .
Solution
4
Let the coordinates of the square be
chosen as shown in the gure so that
the square is in x-y plane with the
origin at (0,0,0). We have
r = z

k
r

= x

+ y

| r r

|
3
= (z
2
+ x

2
+ y

2
)
3
P (z k )
^
(0,0,0)
(a/2,a/2,0)
(a/2,a/2,0)
(a/2,a/2,0)
(a/2,a/2,0)
r
Thus we have

E(z

k) =
1
4
0
_
dl

r r

| r r

|
3
=
1
4
0
_
dl

k x

(z
2
+ x

2
+ y

2
)
3/2
(10)
The integral is over the length of the loop. The terms proportional to x

and y6
vanish by symmetry and the eld is directed along

k.

E(z

k) =

4
0
_
dl

k
(z
2
+ x

2
+ y

2
)
3/2
Each length of the square contributes equal amount to the integral and we can
simply calculate the eld due to a single arm, say the arm at y = +a/2, so that

E(z

k) =
4z
4
0

k
_
dl

dx
(z
2
+ x

2
+ a
2
/4)
3/2
Put
x

=
_
z
2
+
a
2
4
_
1/2
tan
sin =
x

_
x

2
+ z
2
+
a
2
4
_
1/2
dx

=
_
z
2
+
a
2
4
_
1/2
sec
2
d
On substituting these

E(z

k) =
4
4
0

k
z
(z
2
+ a
2
/4)
_
x=+a/2
x=a/2
d cos
5
Substituting for sin in terms of the values of x

E(z

k) =

k
z
(z
2
+ a
2
/4)
_
a
_
z
2
+
a
2
2
_
1/2
_
(11)
For z = 0, i.e. at the centre of the loop, the eld is zero. For large distances,
(z )

E(z

k) =
za

0
z
3

k
=
a

0
z
2
=
Q
4
0
z
2
(12)
So that the loop appears like a point charge at large distances.
Example 5 :
Find the eld on the axis of a circular loop of radius R.
Solution :
This is an example of cylindrical symmetry.
d

E =
1
4
0
dQ
r
2
cos

k
=
1
4
0
dl
R
2
+ z
2
cos

k
=
1
4
0
dlz
(R
2
+ z
2
)
3/2

k
R
z
P

The integral over dl simply gives 2R. Thus

E =
1
4
0
(2R)z
(R
2
+ z
2
)
3/2

k =
1
4
0
Qz
(R
2
+ z
2
)
3/2

k (13)
Example 4 :
Find the eld on the axis of a charged spherical disk of surface charge density .
Solution :
The disk can be considered to consist of a large number of concentric rings. Con-
sider a ring of radius r and width dr. Charge on the ring is dQ = 2rdr. The
6
eld due to this ring is given by Eqn. (13) of the previous example,
dE =
1
4
0
dQz
(r
2
+ z
2
)
3/2

k
=
z
4
0
2rdr
(r
2
+ z
2
)
3/2

k
Thus

E =

2
0

kz
_
R
0
rdr
(r
2
+ z
2
)
3/2
=

2
0

kz
_
1
(r
2
+ z
2
)
1/2
_
R
0
=

2
0

k
_
z

z
2

z
_
(R
2
+ z
2
)
_
(14)
Some of the limits can be found as follows :
For large distances z, | z |R

E =

2
0

k
_
1

z
2

z
2
_
1 +
R
2
z
2
_
1/2
_
=

2
0

k
_
z
| z |
(
R
2
2z
2
)
_
=
Q
4
0
1
z
2
z
| z |

k (15)
The factor z/ | z | shows that the eld is upward for z > 0 and downward for
z < 0.
For small z, the eld can be seen to be

E =

2
0
z
| z |

k (16)
which is constant. Small z limit also applies to an innite current sheet (R z)
Example 5 :
Find the eld due to a sherical shell with a charge density .
Solution :
This problem is very laborious using Coulombs law and direct integration. We
7
will see later that the problem becomes trivial using Gausss law.
The spherical shell can be considered as a collec-
tion of rings stacked up one above the other but
with decreasing radii. Consider a ring at a distance
d = Rcos from the centre of the sphere.
The charge dQ on the ring is
dQ = (2Rsin )Rd = 2R
2
sin d
z
R
P

Using Eqn. (13) of Example 3, we can write the eld at a distance z from the
centre as (the point P is at a distance z Rcos from the ring at a distance d),

E =
1
4
0
_
dQ
(z Rcos )
_
R
2
sin
2
+ (z Rcos )
2

3/2

k
=
R
2

2
0
_

0
sin
(z Rcos )
_
R
2
sin
2
+ (z Rcos )
2

3/2
d

k
=
R
2

2
0
_

0
sin
(z Rcos )
[R
2
+ z
2
2Rz cos ]
3/2
d

k
=
R
2

2
0
_
1
1
(z R)d
(R
2
+ z
2
2Rz)
3/2
k
(17)
where we have substituted = cos . The integral (17) can be performed by
expressing the integrand as sum of partial fractions, It can be checked that
(z R)
(R
2
+ z
2
2Rz)
3/2
=
(
z
2

R
2
2z
)
(R
2
+ z
2
2Rz)
3/2
+
1
2z
(R
2
+ z
2
2Rz)
1/2
8
Thus,

E =
R
2
2
0
_
(
z
2

R
2
2z
)
_
1
1
(R
2
+ z
2
2Rz)
3/2
+
1
2z
_
1
1
(R
2
+ z
2
2Rz)
1/2
_

k
=
R
2
2
0
_
(
z
2

R
2
2z
)(
2
2Rz
)(R
2
+ z
2
2Rz)
1/2
|
1
1
+
1
2z
(
2
2Rz
)(R
2
+ z
2
2Rz)
1/2
_

k
=
R
2
2
0
_
(
z
2

R
2
2z
)(
2
2Rz
)
_
1
| R z |

1
R + z
_

1
2z
(
2
2Rz
) [| R z | (R + z)]
_

k
We consider two cases, viz., when the point P is outside the shell and when it is
inside the shell.
If the point is outside the shell, i.e. if z > R, we can write | R z |= z R. In
this case we get, on simplication,

E =
1
4
0
Q
z
2
r (18)
where Q = 4R
2
is the total charge on the shell. Note that we have changed
from the unit vector

k to the radial unit vector r as all points at a distance z from
the centre are identical except for the direction of

k, which is the radial direction
at thec point P.
If on the other hand z < R, i.e., the point P is inside the shell, we use | R z |=
R z. In this case the eld can be shown to vanish (E = 0).
Example 6 :
Find the eld due to a charged sphere with a charge density .
Solution :
The sphere can be considered as a collection of concentric charged spherical
shells. According to the result of previous problem, the eld outside each shell
depends only on the distance z of the point P from the centre of the shell. Thus
for each shell
dE =
dQ
4
0
1
z
2
The total contribution from all the shells taken together is thus
E =
Q
4
0
1
z
2
where Q is the total charge. The direction of the eld is radial.
If the point P is inside the sphere, we must consider the shells for which P is an
9
external point (all radii r such that r < z) and those shells for which the point P
is inside (r > z). For the latter shells, the eld contribution is zero, while for the
former it is given by
dQ =
dQ
4
0
1
z
2
We need to integrate over the charge elements. Clearly, the integration over charge
is equal to the charge contained inside the sphere of radius z, which is (4/3)Z
3
.
Thus the eld at z is given by
E =
1
4
0
4
3
z
3

1
z
2
=

3
0
z
The eld due to a charged sphere is illustrated in the following gure.
E

i
n

a
r
b
i
t
r
a
r
y

u
n
i
t
s
r--->
Field due to sphere with charge density
z
x
/ x
2
10